


Blood and Honour

by mynevermore



Series: Shadowflitter Stories [1]
Category: Vampire: The Masquerade, World of Darkness (Games)
Genre: Alphabet Agency, Assassins, Babysitting, F/M, Inhuman Character, Vampires, all original characters - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-23
Updated: 2016-06-23
Packaged: 2018-07-16 21:25:02
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,117
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7285282
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mynevermore/pseuds/mynevermore
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When there's some wetwork that needs doing and plausible deniability is required, they call in the Shadowflitter. But it's time for a new handler for the assassin, and Nate takes the opportunity to settle down though the agency didn't tell him what he was transferred across for.</p><p>Can these two opposites make their working relationship work or will they kill each other?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Blood and Honour

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Craorach](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Craorach/gifts).



> This is based on a long term character of mine that started on a Dark Ages chat in 2001 and kind of carried forward through the years. 15 years... It's surprising when I think about the length of time that she's been around. I had originally kept this story to just myself and hubby, but I wanted to share it with others I guess. I hope you enjoy it. Kudos, comments and feedback is appreciated.

The chime of the speakers almost causes one to be thrown across the room from behind her head, a growl punching past her lips as she rolls over to snuggle back down again. She ignores the awkward shuffling of one of the boys checking the notification in favour of returning to the blissful dream of chasing bunnies.

Clicking keys are almost as annoying as the chime but the keyboard is too far away for her to break. She still had to buy him another four of those games keyboard things after the last one she broke. Her mind idly files it away on a random mental shopping list and she curls up around her pillow again, a corner caught between her teeth.

"It's them, they say there's a job." The voice is tentative and nervous, waiting for her to erupt in a frenzy of claws and teeth. She sighs and lifts her head to glare at him for the interruption. He trembles as he pushes his glasses up on his nose, then he transfers the decoded message to a large screen on the wall.

Coordinates. Work available. Wonderful. She shakes her head and sits up. "Perfectly good nap gone to waste." She sighs then and slides down from the modified cat tower, the bed atop it large enough to support her body comfortably with a soft pillowed area and cushions for her to gnaw on. The appeal to the more primal side of her when the boys had presented the gift was immediate and unexpected.

Her strides carry her across the room to the screen and she looks at the message. "Did they give any kind of time frame?" She tucks a lock of curly black hair behind her ear, studying the few lines of the message carefully for anything out of the ordinary.

"No. That's it." He looks up from the monitor in front of him, watching her fine boned profile as she continues to stare at the screen on the wall. "Do you need me to do anything else?"

Her only answer is a grunt and she turns to stride down towards her personal armory. She doesn't trust the men she's meeting as far as she could hypothetically spit them so she's not willing to go unarmed. And he watches her go with a sigh, having fallen in love with her once but her icy attitude eventually pushed him away.

~~~~~~~~~~

Hair tied back, check. Black bodysuit, check. Weapon harnesses, check. Work boots, check. Black trench coat, check. Everything is suitably in place and she's headed to the usual meeting point. She doesn't enjoy these meetings so frightening them as much as she can without overtly threatening them is a source of amusement for her. What better way to do that than look like a stereotypical hitman for hire while concealing her arsenal from those who could bother her about it.

Her steps take her along a soggy street, the streetlights shining off the damp oil slick that was once the road. Ahead of her is a standard all American SUV with black paint and dark tinted windows but she can see the two men within. To her right is the headquarters of the organization itself with its alphabet name and shady dealings. Then again, those same shady dealings is why she's here in the first place.

She sees them tense up as they see her pass through the glow of the first streetlight in the distance. Her complete relaxation is always intimidating to these people, but then again she left her humanity behind centuries ago. A thought popped into her head at that, causing her to tilt her head to one side. Almost 900 years now. How time has flown.

A shake of her head knocks the thought loose and she continues walking, delicate hands tucked into the pockets of her coat. She then stops a good ten yards from the vehicle to allow them to exit in relative safety.

It's rather entertaining to be honest, watching them carefully slide out of their bulletproof vehicle with their guns drawn and aimed at her as if she couldn't crush their weapons with her bare hands and rip the car open like a tin can. The amused grin tugs at her lips as she watches them both from that distance. She's still waiting there under the street light, watching them and smirking away while the back door opens and another figure exits the car.

The smirk drops then as the older woman in sensible shoes and a pant suit approaches her with a plain folder. "This had better not be another one of your political fiascos in the making, Martha." She glares at the older woman and reluctantly takes the folder to flip it open.

"We've learned from that after the last time we suggested it, Miss Shadowflitter. Even before the blood hit the car." Martha straightens her jacket neatly and looks at the younger looking woman, holding in a shudder. Her career has spanned the last thirty five years and the worst part of it has been handling this beast. She knows better than to call the other woman that, especially after witnessing the carnage when they attempted to get her involved in politics for the 'greater good'.

It didn't take long for them to work out that the Shadowflitter's only allegiance is to money and her warped code of honor. And her peculiar sense of self preservation prevents her from taking political hits, even after they threatened her residential status in the US. Martha can still hear the laughter that erupted from the woman when they told her that they could cancel her residency before she turned the guards into sludge and the car into a paperweight.

Nightmares occasionally plague her when she accidentally grazes the deep scar along her left side that was her own warning in the matter. So she carefully knocks back the ones that would cause another incident to occur and only offers those which would resolve a security risk without stepping on too many toes.

This is just another of those offers. So she watches those sharp Hawaiian blue eyes read over the contents of the folder, pale skin almost white in the street light while rosy lips occasionally move with the words. Then she's pinned in place by that sharp gaze.

"Forty thousand? Must be an easy one then. It says here that you're planning on sending someone with me?" She presses a finger to the page and scowls a little. Her eyes narrow as she takes in the older woman's twitching. "You know I work on my own. You're really starting to test my self control, Martha."

It's rather satisfying to watch the woman blanch at that. Only one person has ever pushed her past her limit that the agency has on record and he was returned to the agency in enough pieces that a puzzle enthusiast would have had a hard time putting him back together.

"I assure you, he will not get in your way. He's Special Forces so he knows what he's doing and we'll be briefing him on working with you tomorrow, Miss Shadowflitter." Martha is rather proud of the way she kept her voice steady in delivering that, her hands curled into fists at her sides to stop them from shaking as the other woman stalked towards her.

"No, we're going now." And she strides past the other woman towards the SUV. The two agents there tense up then fire as she gets within range, unloading their clips into her body while she doesn't stop for a moment. Each muffled bark of the silenced firearms causes Martha to blink but she knows by now not to stare as the woman, girl really if you go by appearance alone, simply walks past the two and opens the back door. "Well? Are you coming?"

Martha lets out a sigh at that and nods to the other two agents who are looking more than a little freaked out by the way their contact just ignored the bullets, both scrambling to get in the front of the car while the young woman sits in the very back.

Finally, the last passenger joins them and smooths down her jacket while providing an address to the two in front.

~~~~~~~~~~

Nathan Lucas is sound asleep in bed, his wife Meredith curled in the crook of his arm, his daughter Anna and son Dennis in their respective bedrooms after the nightly wrestle of getting them to sleep. He enjoys these moments of family bliss, even with the struggles and stress of children. He didn't often get a lot of time at home because of his job and he was often uprooting his family because of one posting or another, so he treasures every second he does get while waiting for the penny to drop.

He didn't expect it to drop at 1:30 on a Tuesday morning outside his front door. The growl of government issue SUV is unmistakable and it wakes him from a dead sleep. He lifts his head and looks towards the window then moves his arm from under Meredith's head. She grumbles a bit and whines for him to come back to bed. "It's ok, honey. Just going to the bathroom." A mumble later and she's rolled over to go back to sleep.

A hand slides under the mattress and he retrieves a pistol, then he carefully steps across to the window and looks down at the huge black vehicle sitting at the end of his driveway. There's no movement from the car so he knows they'll wait for him. He sighs and tucks the gun into the waistband of his pyjama pants then stops to put on slippers before heading downstairs to the front door.

He's not wasting time by checking on the kids as he goes past, or the kittens they'd gotten a few weeks before who are slumped on the couch and dead to the world. He's not dawdling by making sure that the back door is still tightly locked or by checking the windows.

But finally he knows he can't wait any longer and he just opens the front door, standing in the door frame and watching.

Back door opens, that's expected. Oh it's the older agent he met during the handover to the agency a week ago. Doesn't stop him from scowling as he watches her walk towards the house. "What kind of time do you call this, Agent Hawthorn?" Then he pauses as another steps from the vehicle.

Now she's unexpected. Black bodysuit, black trenchcoat, shorter than average. At a guess, he'd say she's no more than five feet and at most nineteen years old. Her curly black hair is pulled back into a ponytail and he catches a flash of blue eyes in the light from the entry way. Heavy black boots on her feet but oddly she doesn't make a sound as she walks up behind Hawthorn.

"Is this him?" He frowns, unable to place the accent. It sounds British but polluted. Like she's been away from the Motherland for too long and everyone else's accent has rubbed off on her instead.

"Yes. His name is Sergeant Nathan Lucas. Nathan, this is your associate for the upcoming mission that we discussed." She seems to defer to the teenager. This is his house and his kids are upstairs asleep in bed! Goddammit!

He scowls at them both. "What the hell kinda game are you playing at? You're gonna wake my wife and kids! This can be done in the morning, at the office, where it fucking should be!" He steps back into the house and grips the door to close it in their faces. He only blinked once and the girl has moved fourteen feet to hold the door open. She's barely half his size and he can't move the door.

"You think I like this any more than you do? I don't play well with others and you're already annoying me." She wrinkles her nose while looking him over, the two posturing without even realising it. Self assured Special Forces man protecting his family and woken in the middle of the night versus... that thing. Martha smirks to herself while watching the two face off.

"Annoying you? Listen, girlie, you're the one who turned up on my doorstep at stupid o'clock to have a meeting that could easily be done in the morning anywhere but here." He glares down at her and moves forward to use his height to intimidate her as he has others in the past.

She looks up at him utterly unaffected, tilting her head to one side. "Here is where you are, the morning is not suitable for me, so deal with it." She glances back towards Martha, her hand still seeming to be casually resting on the front door. "That is how the saying goes, isn't it?"

Martha bites down on the inside of her lip to keep a straight face and says nothing until the girl turns back to him. "I'm fairly sure that it is."

He's still straining to close the door in the mean time and they can all see some stress cracks appearing along the surface before he gives up. "Fine. Get inside, keep it down and I'll make coffee." He turns then and walks through to turn on the kitchen light, ignoring the careful footsteps behind him taking a longer route through the living room.

The older woman just walks straight on through to the kitchen and nods as he offers coffee. Then he sets about making it while the girl prowls across the living room and into the kitchen, acquiring a kitten along the way who quickly starts purring like a thunderstorm. He's not offering her coffee, that's for sure.

Shuffling footsteps on the stairs eventually produce Meredith who looks at the other two women questioningly from the doorway. "It's ok, honey. Just work stuff. Go back to bed." She nods warily and heads back upstairs. She's been an Army wife long enough to know not to ask questions until after the fact.

He takes down two cups from the cupboard while the girl makes herself comfortable at the breakfast bar, the kitten set down on the counter and petted by gentle hands. The purring noise seems to double in volume while he makes coffee until he realises that it's not just the kitten rumbling but both of them. The realisation makes him pause and stare at the girl.

"Nathan, this is the Shadowflitter. She's a contractor that the agency employs occasionally to take care of sticky problems that require a certain touch. She's also a very old and very dangerous creature, so I suggest you be careful." The girl and the kitten seem absolutely rapt with one another until the second kitten vaults onto the counter to join the first. Neither of them want to miss out on potential pettings from this odd creature, another pale hand moving to stroke the second kitten.

"What is she?" He looks disturbed now, the thought of making coffee as far from his mind as possible.

"Well...let's put it this way. Silver doesn't work, nor do crosses. Sometimes I see her wearing a cross just for kicks. Stakes are a minor inconvenience rather than a death sentence. Sunlight does harm most of them and they certainly don't drink wine." He blinks at that and darts a glance to Agent Hawthorn then back to the odd creature in front of him.

"You can't be fucking serious!"

Blue eyes flash up to him as the kittens' ears are covered. "Language! There are young ears present." She then returns to petting the ecstatic kittens as they pad back and forth in front of her.

"You're a...vampire? Is this some kind of joke?" He turns back to Agent Hawthorn. "I did not sign up to be made a complete fool of, Agent Hawthorn."

"I know this, Mr Lucas. And you are the best that we have available in this circumstance to pair up with her. My advice would be to just take the money, stay out of her way and accept the comfortable position you get afterwards."

He frowns at the mention of a position afterwards as he finishes pouring water into the two coffee cups. Martha gets her own milk and sugar while he stares at the girl with the kittens. The two felines are continuing to purr while they pad back and forth under her hands, nuzzling at pale fingers and the girl smiles. Soft mewls drop from her lips as though she's talking to them, then the group stops and all turn to look up at him at the same time. It's very unnerving.

"If I agree to this, you're not going to... eat me, are you?" He can barely believe that he's asked the question. His expression shows just how ridiculous he thinks that sounds. Then his complexion almost matches hers as she smiles widely at him, fangs suddenly on display.

"Don't worry, lad. You're safe with me. I don't plan to eat you." A soft chuckle trickles from her lips then he sees the fangs retract into her jaw with a faint click. Her attention then returns to the young kittens. "Or these two stunning boys. Aren't you adorable?" Her smile is uncomfortably pleasant while she continues to pet them.

The two ginger kittens mewl at her adoringly and purr away while Nathan stares at her. Then he twitches as Martha clears her throat to speak. "Miss Shadowflitter has the file, the mission starts in four days." The strange girl produces the file for him to read, her attention seeming to be focused on the two felines in front of her. 

"I'll leave the two of you to your plans." The older woman leaves them both and her cup of coffee barely touched on the countertop. A moment later, they both hear the SUV start up and leave the driveway.

"You stink of fear." Blue eyes lift to watch him. "I really have no plan to eat you, Nathan. I don't eat humans."

"What do you eat then?" He tries to cover the slight tremor of his hands by taking a drink from his cup. He can barely believe that he's having a normal conversation in his kitchen with such a creature. Every unit had their own stories and superstitions about the unnatural but no one really believed it, yet here he is sitting opposite a creature claiming to be a real live...well undead vampire.

"Other vampires." She shrugs at that then smiles at him. Her whole demeanor seems to have changed in the last five minutes and it's really throwing him for a loop. He's particularly surprised when she holds out an arm. "Check my pulse, you know you want to."

She chuckles as he does just that, his warm fingers pressing into cold firm flesh. He blanches even more at that and shudders a little while pulling his hand away. She simply watches him with an enigmatic grin, thoroughly entertained by his reactions.

Finally the kittens jump down from the counter now that they're not receiving any attention and she stands. "From what I can see, it's a simple mission. You grab the stolen security documents that this fucktard has in his possession while I eat him. I get a token amount of money from the agency while I clean out his accounts and you get a cushy desk job wherever they decide to put you."

He leans back against the kitchen counter and stares down at his fingers like he's trying to will away the feeling of that cold flesh against his. "Wait... If you're going to eat him, does that mean he's like you?"

He doesn't expect the chuckle that erupts from her lips and looks up at her then flinches as he realises that she's moved to only a few inches away from him. The stare from those blue eyes is unnerving.

"I'll let you know when I'm ready to move. Don't go anywhere." A corner of her pale lips quirks up into a smile at that then between one blink and the next, she's gone. He looks around then sees along the hallway that the front door is open. That's not fear creeping along his spine, it's just... a cold breeze from the door as he hurries to close it.

~~~~~~~~~~

The morning is bright and the events of the night seem like a dream except for the stress fractures that he can still see in the front door. He knows that Meredith wants to ask about what happened but he just gets on with sorting himself out for work while she organises the kids for school. He still needs time to process.

He drags a suit out of the closet and dresses quickly, knotting his tie as he walks downstairs to the cries of his children fighting over whatever toy they've found in the bottom of the cereal box. "Anna, Dennis...share or it'll belong to your mother." The domestic scene is complete when he presses a kiss to Meredith's cheek after she hands him a travel mug of coffee. "Don't work too hard today, sweetheart."

She smirks and shakes her head at that. "We'll talk tonight." Then she watches her husband leave for the day before returning to wrangling the kids into their school uniforms. None of the family members notice the two kittens pawing at the window and looking glum while still waiting for their new friend to return.

Nathan hops into his car, once again missing the fast coupe he used to own as a teenager but needs are stronger than desires and he's stuck with a responsible family sedan. His mind wanders back to the SUV that had been parked in his driveway in the middle of the night and the strange creature it produced. He definitely needs some answers.

The trip down to the agency's headquarters is reasonably quick and painless, his car bay free as it should be, his pass letting him in the building without incident. His desk is as he left it and his computer boots up without complaint. He knows this is all building up to something bad after too many years of everything going to shit unexpectedly. 

And there it is... A new email blinking away in his inbox as urgent. A demand to go and see her as soon as he gets in. He sighs and finishes the rest of his coffee, then buttons his jacket as he walks through the twisting corridors of the building to get to her office.

It's plush and comfortable. Definitely what he'd expect from someone who's been in the office for the last twenty years. Rumour has it that she's looking at retirement and everyone is speculating over who will get the position once she's gone. It leaves him missing the Army, the chain of command was clear and an officer's successor was obvious rather than all this politicking around the office.

A tap on the door is quickly answered and he walks in. "You wanted to see me, ma'am."

"Ah yes, Mr Lucas. Take a seat." Martha Hawthorn looks up from her computer and motions to the chair across from her. He always feels like he's been called to the principal's office when she asks to see him but he sits anyway and tries his best to look relaxed.

Her thin lips are pinched and he can see the dark circles under her eyes from being awake far too late the night before. But as usual, her dyed red hair is perfectly coiffed and her slate gray suit is immaculate.

"I wanted to apologise for last night's events. She is an unknown element in any mission we have with her. That's why we try to avoid contracting her services unless absolutely required."

He grimaces at the excuses and shrugs his shoulders. "Ms Hawthorn, I really don't care. I don't want her at my home again but I get the feeling that you can't promise me that." He pauses a moment, seriously considering asking the burning question on the tip of his tongue then he sighs. He's seen the evidence he needs to, plus they're not paying him to use his brain. It's an uncomfortable feeling but he believes what he sees and he's seen what she is. "So what's my part in all this?"

Martha watches him struggle with it then smiles thinly. "You're showing sense at least. The less you ask about her the better. Your part in this is relatively easy...."

~~~~~~~~~~

The house is warm when he walks in way past sunset. He pauses in the doorway and draws in a deep breath then a smile spreads across his face. Steak, potatoes, green beans. She's made his favourite for dinner except for.... Oh there's the rhubarb pie. He sighs then and tugs his tie loose, knowing his wife won't let it go until he's told her everything.

He sets his wallet and keys in the bowl in the living room, then pets the kittens as they stare out the window from their perch on the back of the couch. The TV is blaring with cartoons that the kids are giggling over while the delectable scents draw him ever closer to his doom. 

"Vile temptress..." Nathan grins and wraps his arms around his wife's waist as he steps up behind her. A well placed kiss to the back of her head makes her smile while he watches her mash the potatoes.

"You know it. You're not getting out of my clutches this time." Meredith smirks up at him, her baby blue eyes dancing with amusement as she tucks a strand of brown hair behind her ear and returns to finishing up dinner. He's struck for a moment at the similarity in eye colour between his wife and the creature. 

He shudders a moment then plasters his smile back on. "I'll go set the table." And he heads off to do so, needing to take a small breather to wipe that image from his mind. She's gotten him more rattled than he thought, especially after his mission briefing with Hawthorn. But he's home now and he needs to get his mind in the game here if he doesn't want his wife walking all over him.

He hears her ask about his day and they manage to pass the rest of the cooking time in light chatter around what they did that day, to a given value of disclosure because of his job, before calling the kids to dinner.

The four of them then sit around the table and hold hands to say grace with their steaming plates in front of them. It's a truly domestic moment and he hopes things will stay that way going into the future but it's hard to say what the future will hold now that he has a vampire in it. Even in his head, the thought sounds ridiculous and he sends a prayer up to God to keep his family safe from the creature. She assured him she doesn't eat humans but you can't deny the folklore, the movies and stories that all say that human blood is the go to for creatures like her.

He has to protect his family.

~~~~~~~~~~

Sleep had been quick once the sun had risen above the horizon and she was comfortably tucked into her earthen cocoon. The kittens had been adorable and so excitable, chattering away about everything they'd chased during the day, but her concerns about the human had kept her awake until the flaming ball of death had forced her into slumber.

Rising from the earth in the garden behind her home, she knows what she needs to do next and it's not laze about as she has been doing for the past few weeks. Work is the priority and ensuring her job is completed appeals to her honour, so her boys see the professional walk in rather than the self-indulgent aristocrat they've become accustomed to.

She dusts a bit of loose dirt from her pyjamas and looks up at the main screen in the living area. "Marcus, bring up everything you have on this Nathan Lucas individual."

There's not even a word of acknowledgment as he turns to his computer. She's raised him well over the years and he's learned her intolerance for yes men. She doesn't want him to snap to attention, just to do his damned job so his fingers fly over the keyboard in front of him as he pulls up everything from birth certificate to service record to Facebook account.

"Nathaniel Eric Lucas, thirty five years old. Been in the army for fifteen years. Married his high school sweetheart, Meredith Tanya Harland-Lucas, twelve years ago. They have two children - Anna Elizabeth, eleven, and Dennis Timothy, eight. He's a Ranger, been in the unit for the last six years and recently loaned out to the agency. Presumably to work with you, Flit."

She stands silently during the spiel and watches the information flicker across the screen, her skin almost the same colour as the paper of his service record. Her eyes narrow slightly as she takes it all in. "Is he a threat?"

"Based on his fitness scores, he could give a new blood a run for their money but he'd have to get a serious drop on you to get any kind of advantage." He lets out a sudden yelp then as she walks over and swats him across the back of the head. "Right, not what you asked. He's got no particular political leanings that I can see, no criminal record and his Facebook just talks about his wife and kids. He doesn't look like he's been tapped on the shoulder for anything, just sits in the middle of the Ranger pack. Volunteered to head across to the agency with eldest kid just starting middle school."

She walks back to the screen and nods thoughtfully to herself. "Family man, I like those. Their motives are obvious." She turns then and heads upstairs towards the bathroom. "Run a deep search on him, dig up every little secret. And get me the file on the target."

Above them on the balcony of the next floor, an older man exits one of the rooms. "Your bath and clothing are prepared, miss."

She nods at that and walks up to the bathroom. "I'll be in the tub. Bring it up when you have it." And she passes the older man on her way in. "Thank you, Duncan."


End file.
